1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing method for a photographic printer, and more particularly to a printing method for a photographic printer which effects printing using an exposure amount determined by analyzing photometric data on a plurality of image frames.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methods of printing by analyzing photometric data on a plurality of image frames are described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 59-220761, 61.91648, and 2-93448. In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-220761, data on a multiplicity of frames photometrically measured by an image-frame photometric section is analyzed so as to be used for determination of exposure amount by an exposure section provided separately from the photometric section. With this technique, since the image-frame photometric section and the exposure section are separated from each other, there is a drawback in that the apparatus becomes large in size. In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-91648, the image-frame photometric section and the exposure section are disposed in proximity to each other, and a film takeup section is provided While a roll of film is being taken up by the film takeup section, photometry is conducted with respect to the entire roll of film, and an exposure amount is determined on the basis of the photometric data on the whole roll of film and photometric data on individual image frames to be printed, thereby to effect printing Since the photometric section and the exposure section are disposed in proximity to each other, this technique makes it possible to prevent the apparatus from becoming large in size. However, since the film needs to be taken up by the film takeup section, printing is difficult in the case of short pieces of negative film that are difficult to take up and specific image frames that require taking up and rewinding. In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-93448, the photometric section and the exposure section are disposed at the same location, and photometric data on a multiplicity of frames are accumulated for each type of film and are used for exposure control. With this technique, since the photometric section and the exposure section are disposed at the same location, it is unnecessary to effect taking up of the film, and therefore, piece negatives and specific image frames can be effected readily. However, it is necessary to make the type of film correspond to the accumulated data, and when the type of film is unknown, printing is difficult.
In addition, with the above-described techniques, since data on a multiplicity of image frames, such as photometric data on a roll of film, are required, there is a problem in that it takes time to accumulate image-frame data, and processing capabilities decline as a result
It should be noted that a technique concerning the analysis of photometric data is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-220760. In addition, printers for determining exposure amount by using photometric data on a roll of film are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 51-112345, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-211136 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,539), and the like.